History investigators discover authenticity

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Part 2 of EMBARGOED PACKAGE on LINCOLN LETTER, must not use until Sunday

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The four lead investigators of PBS’s “History Detectives,” which begins its fifth season Monday at 8 p.m., have a way of almost straying off course as they attempt to solve their historical puzzles.

Each episode of the show is structured around three segments, in which one of the show’s hosts takes on an intriguing historical question, often offered by someone who wants to authenticate an artifact they own.

The hosts usually borrow the item and don’t return until there’s an answer. Cameras then follow them on their journey of historical research. When they find an answer, some clever editing keeps viewers in suspense until after the hosts return to the owner to reveal all. Ideally.

In the first episode, “history detective” Wes Cowan attempts to resolve whether a portable screen owned by a woman in Portland, Ore., was used in the Kennedy White House to study aerial spy photos of Cuba during the 1962 missile crisis.

The woman, who runs a gallery specializing in 3-D photography, has an old letter backing up the claim. As Cowan heads off cross-country to find out whether it’s accurate, the woman clearly is hoping for good news.

Cowan, however, does not dwell on the pressure of finding the truth. Instead, he travels to Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio, on a broader search. He’s seen dropping a stack of books about the Cuban Missile Crisis onto a large reading table at a library and interviewing specialists and historians at museums and in the basement archives of research institutions. He learns about breakthroughs in three-dimensional photography and the ways reconnaissance planes were rigged to carry huge cameras.

Some of this is only somewhat related to the task at hand, which was to place the screen in Portland at the White House in 1962.

But part of the appeal of “History Detectives” is that each 15- to 20-minute investigation tells a larger story around the questionable authenticity of an artifact and in a way that shows what true historical research is like — a lot of footwork, lucky hunches, dead ends, careful reading and interesting tangents that can open up additional questions just as interesting as the initial one.

“A good investigation is one that walks us down some interesting history,” said Chris Bryson, an executive producer with Lion Television, which produces the show for PBS. “That history can be dramatic and known, or, by virtue of our investigation, turns out to be more interesting than we thought. We often come back with not the answer they were hoping for.”

The projection screen, for instance, turns out not to have any White House connection. And Cowan has to reluctantly inform its owner of this at the end of the segment.

The show takes on a variety of quests, some that lead to actual discoveries, some that lead to invalidation. Sometimes, as with a segment in the second episode of the season, in which a woman wants to know whether a pin she owns contains metal from the Liberty Bell, the mystery is never, well, cracked.

Bryson said he accepts one description of the show as a cross between reality television and documentary. There is some showmanship — some scenes are obviously staged for dramatic effect.

But arguably, there’s also a contrast. With “History Detectives,” the hosts, not the owners of artifacts, are the stars. The hosts’ interaction with them often seems barely peripheral. For instance, in the first two episodes, where an object’s authenticity is validated, there’s no discussion of its monetary worth, the concept behind PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow.”

Bryson said the focus is on the narrative.

“Lion Television was formed by three BBC documentary producers with long pedigrees of the highest-quality television,” he said. “We have pitched to MTV and A&E, and all sorts of lighter fare. But (with ‘History Detectives’) we have high production values. We do history well.”

Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539 or pete.sherman@sj-r.com.

Want to Learn More?

“History Detectives” begins its fifth season on Monday, with hour-long episodes airing on most PBS stations at 8 p.m. It airs locally on WSEC-TV Channel 8 and WILL-TV Channel 12.

Each episode is built around three segments, in which one of four “history detectives” attempts to validate the authenticity of an artifact that may relate to some aspect of American history.

Among the season’s highlights is the investigation of an Abraham Lincoln letter obtained by a Tampa, Fla., firefighter who purchased it for $8 at a yard sale. Part of the episode, which will air on Aug. 27, was filmed in Springfield.

Other investigations this season:

*A British 10 shilling note may have been autographed by many of the Allied leaders of World War II. The bill may also have been connected to a popular drinking game among troops. (July 2)

*A diver has kept two silver bars he received as compensation for participating in a 1985 dive off the Florida Keys to recover a 1622 Spanish ship and its 40 tons of silver and gold. One of his bars includes a cryptic note that’s missing from the other. (July 16).

*An odd map of 19th-century Ohio found at an estate sale has a relationship with the Quakers, the anti-slavery movement and perhaps the Underground Railroad (Aug. 27).

For more information about “History Detectives,” visit the show’s Web site at www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/.

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